Kinda tired, as this is my first double in a few weeks. Went during the combo family/lap swim; only for the last Ark did I have to avoid kids, which was nice. With this weather, I suppose no hot tub - but ice cream for sure

Back to the pool early today. Feeling a little better than yesterday but still tired. A lot of swimming and other things this month. A day off tomorrow and then finish up May on Friday. Then who knows what June and the rest of the summer will be like.

Pretty good workout. I feel I need to do a bit more work on my kick although it is way better than a year or so back...maybe it just takes 3 or 4 years to develop a good grip or feel on the water--especially as a returning swimmer. GOing to move kick sets up in the pecking order of sets. Got my plyo circuit later today...see last week's post for details.

Swam w/ Dave and Sam. We've had some changes this week. First, the swim team comes in at 7:00 so out time is more limited. Usually Dave and I stretch the workout to a little over 5K with some easier swims but we go way past 7:00. Can't really do that anymore. If we want a 5k workout, we have to pick up the pace. Second, the pool temp has dropped drastically. For pretty much the entire winter/spring, they kept it at 86 minimum. Suddenly, it is 82-84. No complaints from me and it has allowed me to swim longer without wearing out so much. Sam is getting back in shape quickly. I can't even keep up with his breaststroke anymore. He was doing backstroke on a lot of our main sets today and staying ahead of my freestyle. But, he swims in college and is in his early 20s. I'm in my mid 40s. I'm happy I was able to keep up while it lasted.

Work was closed on Monday for Memorial Day, which I spent watching the parade in town and then going for a nice motorcycle ride as I remembered the sacrifice of many so that we can enjoy the freedoms we do here in America. Very busy yesterday as we tried to cram two days of work into one; ended up doing 1.75 days. Nice loosen-out swim this morning., with some more planned a bit later.

I am a long time lurker in the blogs and in the forums. I borrow an occasional workout. I post very rarely. I have diligently posted to a Flog for the last 4 years. I am starting a blog now due to a life altering event that happened a little more than two weeks ago. After having 4-6 weeks of mild nausea and vague abdominal cramping, I was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. I have completed my first round of chemotherapy and will start my second this Friday. After having to wait ten days for my port site to heal, I swam for the first time yesterday and it was wonderful.

Why a blog now? Well, I have always been a swimmer. I started to compete when I was 7 and swam through college. Other then a few years of sporadic swimming when I was in medical school, I have always been in the water (I am now 43 and the mother to 6 and 9 year old sons along with being an endocrinologist). I have always found peace in the water, whether it be in the pool or in the open water. I recognize that an important part of my treatments will be to remain sane (and active). My oncologist encouraged me to stay active. I am looking for my own strength and the strength to continue to fight. So here it goes.

Tuesday, May 28th

Wanted to just swim a little as I wasn't sure how I would feel. Showed up with 20 minutes left of the 60 minute work-out. Just jumped quietly in the back of the lane I normally swim in.

4 x 25 30.
4 x 125 1:50 These were some sort of IM and there were 2 rounds. I swam free slowly for one round.
200 easy/100 kick/100 easy-- This I was just trying to figure out what I could do. The port site is on the right so I can't really breathe to that side yet. Breaststroke is okay. Backstroke is a little awkward (It has to do with the rotating).

I was really stiff this morning after last nights workout. I loosened up just fine after the warm up. We spent quite a lot of time today working on my kick. I am finding six beat kicking really hard and almost feel like my stroke needs to slow down to get the kick right. This is going to take some time to perfect.

First 5 minutes or so is spent putting in the 5 or so LCM lanelines...that's always fun.

Warmup:

500 (50 Free/50 Back)
(500/500)

10 x 50 @ 1:10 Odds Free Build, Evens Breast Build
(500/1000)

Kick Set:
8 x 150 SDK w/ long fins @ 2:15 I was either barely making this or missing the interval. The younger kids seem to have no problem with the set. They also do all the kick sets with kickboard and fins, I only do without kickboard when I use fins
(1200/2200)

Main Set:

10 x 200 IM @ 3:45 EN2 work
I only did 2 of these as I had to get out early to take my daughter to her choir concert at another school tonight. She did really well. .
(400/2600)

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2600 LCMeters

IM stuff outside really stinks...especially when our two lanes were in the "open water" area of the pool without the lanelines. Dodgeball in a sense with backstrokers everywhere.

Not sure how much more swimming I'll get in the rest of the week prior to the meet. Hopefully I'll get to swim my events at the meet too. Cherries are starting to come this weekend, and they're talking about running them starting Thursday evening. Who knows what that means for my work schedule. I don't like it, but you have to do it, right?

Today was the first day of summer season - meaning we have to be out of the pool by 7am for the youth swim team. That means at most 90 minutes of swimming - which in the grand scope of things is probably plenty - it's just 20 minutes less than I have had, if I get to the pool by 5:30 and not 5:50.

This morning my body was really tired. I just sort hung on for the entire swim. Ray was there but I couldn't keep up with him. Right now I am just hanging on through Wednesday and Friday to hit 70 miles. I feel the yardage I have been swimming, but I am going to hit that goal. Then, I am going to change.

With the holiday weekend I was having swimming withdrawal symptoms. If its not tough enough with me backing off after nationals a three day weekend is thrown in for good measure....God I am sad! Seriously though with the craziness at work at the moment I begged and pleaded with my wife to allow me to swim tonight. I was given the go ahead(I think she had a tough sleep night last night and if truth be known she was probably glad one of her three kids was out of the house to give her some peace and quiet). I swam a really tough set of 200s tonight and I am buzzing right now. For the first time today I feel good.

15 minute vasa swim bench at a high tempo

Warm up
1000 swim with snorkel
10x50 kick on 50

Main set
10x200 pull with paddles on 2.30 holding under 2min pace

Warm down
500 swum 25 back, 25 free easy

Total 4000 yds

I felt sluggish on the warmup but felt better on the kick set. The 200s were mentally tough but I held 1.59-2.01 on all the 200s. This is the best set of 200s since I got back in the pool.

Well, after only about 175 yards of breast that felt really good on Sunday... for the first time ever... I was disappointed not to be able to get into the Y yesterday to follow up and try to recapture the feel. Alas, the Y was closed on Memorial Day--as it should be. No open water venues available (drizzly and highs around 50, yuck). So I bought my first new pair of running shoes in over two years and *gasp* I went for a two mile run... my hamstrings now feel like they want to snap; it took a while to loosen back up this morning in the pool.

Today's workout was all about seeing if I could find that rhythm with my breast stroke again... it was there, fleetingly for a few moments in the warm-up, but in the context of an actual IM... well, let's just say I have a lot more work to do.

*Rests between steps of this ladder varied from :15 to 1:30 (I gave myself a little more recovery after 800 and 600 IMs, rest after the 200s and 100s was closer to :15-:30). Times were slow, I was just trying to survive the set, though my first 400 IM was around 7:15, not bad considering the abuse I've been heaping on the body in the last week or so.

1 x 50 fly from the blocks (no objection by lifeguard!)
-- clock was completely to the side, waited for 59, rolled back and went, so prolly left at 59.5 or so
-- 30
-- this is a great practice time for me, even if it really was 31 low
150 EZ

1 x 50 back from blocks, on the top, 34
-- my rapid fire turnover works great in SCY where I only take 9-10 strokes per length, but I feel like I'm spinning in long course
-- need to find a stroke that is fast but has more DPS (like I have in fly & free), don't think this will happen before my meet though
200 EZ

3 x 30
-- practicing SDKs from a dive off the blocks
-- 12 SDKs puts me 1/2 yard short of the 15 m mark, so that is prolly the right count for a kneeskin swim
50 EZ

Made it out to Mason again and had a solid workout. I was most pleased with my 50 fly from the blocks. I've been yelled at for using the blocks before, but today the lifeguard didn't make a peep. Tomorrow, a recovery workout. I'm not going to do more than 2 long course workouts in a row again!

Pool opened at 10 this morning. I got there about 10:15 and wanted to get a good workout in. It's unusual for me to 4 days in a row and 7 out of 8 days. After Wednesday it will 6 days and 9 out of 10. But, Tuesday starts the summer season, which means the youth swim teams start practicing at 7 am and we only have about 90 minutes in the morning. I have a chance to hit 70 miles for May which is 3/4 miles more than last year and more than I have ever done in one month. There's that yardage mindset coming back.

Created a new set today - a saw tooth - to add variety to a ladder or a "M".

I did quite a bit of work around the house today, cleaning up in the basement, and around outside as well, including pulling a very large lilac tree/bush/whatever out from the middle of my yard. I was pretty tired by the time I got to the pool. Almost wished I'd gone to work instead (sometimes work is easier than the stuff around the house).

Long Course Meters in the rain:

Warmup:
600 Free
(600/600)

Kick Set:
8 x 150 SDK w/ long fins @ 2:15
John said these are easy, we should all make them. I was moving fast, and coming in around 2:10+ or so, barely enough time to turn and go again. The kids however were getting all kinds of rest.
(1200/1800)

Main Set:
Broken Descending Mile+ (the + part is the bonus 100 at the end of the 1500)

I was completely toasted on the second round. I had to fend off a 12 year old girl the whole way through the set as well. She's a definite LCM swimmer, and I'm a SCY "need my walls, pushoffs, etc." type of swimmer. In SCY I can outdistance her easily, but not in this huge expanse of water. That's why I truly don't enjoy OW swimming either...no walls.

8 x 50 @ 2:00 Odds V-Sit Scull, Evens Sprint 1 of each stroke
I calf cramped up on the Fly one about 35/40 meters down the pool...and hobbled my way in.
(400/5600)

200 EZ and out

---------------------------
5800 LCM

Holy crapola!! That was a heck of a day! John said he did that set for all of us to prepare us for the 800 Free and 1500 Free that we're all doing on Friday night at the Apple Capital meet. Yeah, Thanks!